Heart and Soul
by cagedphoenix
Summary: Haldir, Legolas, and Silanenya are friends; when one of them goes missing, how far will the other two go to save a life? no slash, no smut, no Legomance.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings, its characters, or anything affiliated with it. This is just for my personal pleasure.  
  
Summary: This is the story of two young warriors, Haldir and Silanenya, who meet and fall in love. These stories will chronicle what happens after they fall in love, and the adventures the brave along with another warrior, Legolas.  
  
Author's Note: This is the rewritten Heart and Soul; I have not finished it, however, and, considering that I have a lot of homework and am working on several other stories, one of them a Jack Sparrow fanfiction, the updates will be both sporadic and few and far between. I expect this series to be a long-term project, lasting a couple of years if it must. Also, this first chapter was actually written quite a while back, so my writing has improved. Please bear with me on this one; subsequent chapters will be much, much better. Well then, I've rambled on long enough; on to the story(.  
  
Heart and Soul  
  
"Well, my lord, I shall venture to say that the wrath of my father shall never be matched in like, but for the joy of my brother."  
Haldir laughed nervously and ran his hand lightly across the etchings on his longbow, trying not to think on the impending meeting. He looked up as the elf riding next to him spoke up again.  
"My lord, although I do not hesitate to proclaim your ability to annihilate orcs with that weapon, I fear that it will prove ineffective at dispatching my father's ire." Silanenya laughed when Haldir earned even more pale than before. "Come, I shall race you to the next spiderweb!' She rode away swiftly, rapidly outdistancing the surprised elf.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Legolas reached back for another arrow, then grimaced as he realized he did not have any left.  
"Eru help me," he murmured as he took out his knives, did a double take at the orcs rushing at him, and ran. His sharp ears caught the sound of elvish laughing, and he hurried in that direction, desperately hoping he had stumbled onto a scouting party.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Haldir helped Silanenya onto their newly-made flet, laughing as her hair got tangled in his fingers.  
"Silya, you-"whatever he was going to say was cut off as Silanenya raised her hand.  
"Another elf runs this way." She paused as the sound of yelling reached their ears. "Orc!" Her body tensed as she reached for her bow, only to realize that Haldir had already retrieved them from the corner of the flet. Silya shook her head in disbelief. Haldir was, even for an elf, quick. She found herself comparing his speed with her brother's, then shook her head again. She would deal with her family when the time came; at this moment, she could not deserve to think about them-she had a battle to fight. She quickly nocked her bow and crept forward to the edge of the flet.  
"Do you see anything?" asked Haldir. Although his eyesight would exceed hers under normal circumstances, these woods were Silanenya's home, and it would be easier to sense when something was amiss; the trees would recognize her better.  
"The elf has topped running. Come," she said as she leaped off the flet, "we must go aid him."  
  
~*~*~  
  
Legolas sighed as he deprived another or of his ability to see, smell, taste and hear simultaneously-he beheaded it with a gentle sweep of his pearl-handed knives. The young elf prince had been cut off from the elf encampment when ten orcs split from the main group and attacked him from the right. Now, although the ground around him was littered with orc- bodies, he was backed up against a tree and starting to tire. He knew that it was only a matter of time until the orcs found a weakness in his defenses and killed him. His only hope was that an elf might hear the noise and come to give him aid, although he had to admit that it was a slim hope at best. Well, he thought as an orc blade forcefully separated one of his knives from his hand, that's all I have. He grinned as an orc loomed up in front of him. At least he'd killed many of them. This week's count was already close to twenty, not counting all he'd killed today.  
"Kill him!" yelled, in the background, the leader of the orc troop. "Kill the-"  
Grizhnep looked up as he was cut off by two distinctive "whirr-thunk" sounds. The last thing he ever wondered was where the two arrows had come from.  
  
~*~*~  
  
Silanenya and Haldir broke through the brush behind a large orc who was obviously the leader. Almost absentmindedly they simultaneously fired arrows into his neck Haldir spotted the lone elf as he was engaged by three orcs; fortunately he had managed to find his other knife. As the Marchwarden of Lothlorien cleaved an orc in two, however, he saw something much more important to him-  
"Silya!" he yelled, "Behind you!'  
Silanenya reflexively twirled around and thrust her knives into whatever was standing behind her; fortunately for her, it was an orc.  
Silya was now a machine, a mindless organism with only one thing in mind: thrust, parry, duck, slash. Thrust, parry, duck, slash. Before she knew it, there were no orcs standing. She turned and walked over to where Haldir was ministering to the other elf's wounds, his expression jovial. She could not tell who the other elf was as of yet; his back was towards her as Haldir tended a slight wound in his side.  
"How is he?" asked Silya.  
"He is all right, he just has a few cuts. I gave him a sleeping herb, however; I did not want him to feel me clean this one. . .I fear the orc had poison on his blade." Haldir straightened up slightly, signaling that he was ready to leave. "He shall heal well, though." He looked around and grabbed the unconscious elf's shoulders lightly. "Silya, would you do me the favor of carrying my bow, please?"  
"Certainly." She replied, then gave a slight gasp. As Haldir had picked up the other elf to carry him to their camp, his features were revealed. Surrounded by a halo of long blond hair, with a small, bloody cut on his forehead, was the face of Prince Legolas Thranduillion. Her brother. 


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One  
  
"We humbly accept your thanks, gracious lord, and beg for a private audience."  
Silanenya snuck a look at Haldir, who knelt by her in front of Thranduil's throne, and smiled. It had taken them two weeks of traveling to finally arrive at the palace, the journey having been lengthened due to Legolas's injuries. Once they had managed to get back to the palace, however, Legolas was spirited away by the palace staff to his father's chambers, and Silanenya and Haldir were taken to their rooms so they could dress in ceremonial garb and appear at Thranduil's court later that day. Silya's father wanted to thank Haldir publicly for saving Legolas's life. She smiled. At least it was a good point in his favor; he would greatly need it later this afternoon, when he asked for her hand in marriage. She only hoped that this and Haldir's status as Marchwarden were enough to console her father; Thranduil had had great plans for his daughter, some involving a certain one of Elrond Peredhil's twin sons at Rivendell.  
"Certainly, Haldir of Lothlorien. I believe that a private meeting would be well in order."  
Silanenya stared at Thranduil suspiciously. How much had her brother guessed on the journey back to the palace? And, if he had guessed anything, what had he told their father? Legolas Thranduillion was no fool, and she would be surprised if he had not surmised that something was afoot between Haldir and his little sister. But Legolas was also rather discreet, and she had never known him to tell anyone something that he thought was only Silanenya's business. Oh well. What was done was done, and all she could do was pray that Eru would intercede on her behalf. ~*~*~  
"Is there anything else you deem it necessary that we should discuss?" Thranduil rose from his seat, slightly stretching, looking intently at Haldir.  
Silanenya sighed slightly and glanced at Legolas and Haldir, who were seated on either side of her, out of her peripheral vision. For the last four hours, she and Haldir had told Legolas and her father of the orc patrols they had observed on their journey. Following their statements, all four elves would discuss the best way to hit the orc parties, where defense stations should be placed, and where flets for elves who lived near or in endangered areas should be erected. Legolas and Thranduil had thought they were finished, but Haldir hesitated, as if he wanted to tell Thranduil something else. Haldir was unconsciously toying with his engraved dagger hilt, legolas was sitting forward in his chair, obviously interested in what Haldir would say next, and Thranduil was staring at Haldir suspiciously.  
Haldir finally met Thranduil's gaze. "My Lord, with your permission, there is one more thing I should like to discuss with you."  
Thranduil sat back down gracefully. "And what should that be? Some orc patrol that escaped your mind earlier? Or perhaps a message from the Lady of the Golden Wood?"  
Haldir laughed nervously and looked to Silanenya for support; perhaps he found it in the smile she gave him. "My Lord, it is of a personal matter that I would speak." He shifted in his seat nervously.  
Thranduil raised his eyebrows and muttered a small 'oh,' but gave no other indication that Haldir's request surprised him any.  
"My Lord Thranduil, Silanenya and I met, if you remember, twenty-one years ago at this palace during the festival of the warrior's return from patrol, when I was but a messenger for the Lady Galadriel and the Lord Celeborn, if I remember correctly." In truth, Haldir's first meeting with the beautiful elf maiden at his side was engraved upon his memory as if on solid stone. "We had not seen each other since, until the Lady Silanenya journeyed to Lorien four months ago. We encountered each other often during the early weeks of her stay, and I soon gained permission from Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel, as acting Lord and lady in your stead, to court your daughter. Since then, however, I have received my position as Marchwarden, and I. . ." here he glanced at legolas, who's carefully schooled face betrayed nothing, and who had the good grace to gracefully excuse himself and quietly leave the room. "I realize that it would be impossible to court Silanenya across such a wide space of both land and time, so, with your permission, I. . ." he looked at Silanenya once more, and this time she reassured him with a nod of her head and a grasp of her hand. "I would like to ask for your daughter's—for Silya's—hand in marriage." ~*~*~  
Silanenya stared at her rother suspiciously as she stepped out into the hallway: Legolas was standing twenty feet away from the door, polishing his bow, an innocent look on his face; because of this, Silya knew that, if she had been outside in the hallway during her conversation, she would have seen some very un-elf-like behavior being exhibited by the Crown Prince of Greenwood. To be more specific, Silanenya Thranduiliell knew that, as of two minutes ago, her brother had been standing nonchalantly next to the door, calmly using his elvish hearing abilities, which had been greatly heightened by his work as a warrior, in order to listen in on as much of the three elves' private conversation as possible.  
Good thing we were speaking quietly, she thought. Legolas might be 2,335 years old, but he still acted like an elfling every once in a while. Silanenya smiled and remembered the last time she had been at the palace, approximately eight months previously: Legolas had opened this same door after an eight-hour meeting with his father only to find his sister sitting slumped against the wall, her eyes glazed; she had fallen asleep while trying to listen to the conversation. Thinking about the incident gave her pause to think: when Legolas had come out of the room, he had not been loud enough to wake her, and he knew that, if their father were to find her sitting there, he would be angry with her, and perhaps do something unreasonable. Silanenya had just also come in with another home patrol, however, and Legolas did not want to wake her, so, tired and battle-weary as he had been, having just come in from another defense patrol, he had picked her up and carried to her room, where he knew that her ladies-in- waiting would care for her.  
Silanenya decided she would pretend he had not heard anything; after all, he probably had not heard the most important parts of the conversation. She looked up at him and smiled as he spoke to her.  
"So, what did our father have to say?" Legolas asked the question lightly, fingering his bow; to any elf passing who could not hear the question, it would have seemed that he had merely asked her a question about her own set of matching weapons.  
"Well," said Silya, edging closer to her brother. Behind her she heard Haldir step out into the corridor. For the first time in months, however, she paid him no heed, focusing only on her sharp-eyed brother. "Well, father was most gracious, and he decided that. . .he decided that Mid-year's day would be a proper time for a royal wedding." She could not help laughing at the expressions that crossed her brother's face: shock, slight joy, and then a complete elation.  
Legolas strode up to his sister and clutched her arms in an elf- warrior's embrace. "May Eru touch your life and bless all your days, gwathel nin." He laughed and wiped a tear from her eye. "I do not ask the same blessing on your husband-to-be, dear one, for I know that with you for a wife, hi is already blessed more than any elf alive." Legolas turned around towards Haldir discreetly a Silya threatened to burst into tears completely. Bowing to the Marchwarden, Legolas mad a show of mock ceremony and laid a hand on the other's shoulder. "As I was unconscious, due in part to my sister's healing herbs, during much of our last week together, I believe that introductions are in order: I am Legolas Thranduillion, scout and ranger for the Kingdom of Mirkwood."  
Haldir smiled politely and played along with Legolas. "And I am Haldir Rumarillion, Marchwarden and Royal Guard of Lothlorien, in love with the most beautiful elf in Middle Earth, save for the Lady of the Golden Wood."  
Legolas smiled politely and did a most un-princely thing: he threw one of his arms over Haldirs shoulders and guided the confused elf, who had to be at least 1,000 years older than him, towards his chambers. "Of course, of course. Now, I do believe, however, that we should have a short. . .discussion. . .regarding Silanenya. Only for the interests of the betrothal, of course."  
Silanenya stopped, chagrined, when she saw the innocent, disarming look Legolas threw her way; things, at least for Haldir, were about to become quite. . .interesting. 


End file.
